Improvement in hat-protectors



UNITED STATES HARRISON HODGSON PATENT OEEIeE.

,or NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEM ENT IN HAT-PROTECTO RS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,019, dated October 23, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRISON HODGSON, of 275 Third avenue, of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hat-Supporters 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan view of an apparatus made according to my invention, shown detached from a hat. Fig. 2 is an under-side view of the apparatus, also detached. Fig..3

. is a sectional view in the plane'of the line fr,

Fig. 2, a portion of a hat to which the apparatus has been applied being shown. Fig. 4. is a plan view ofthe apparatus as it appears when looking downward into a hat to which it has been applied.

The object of this invention is to provide a hat orV cap with a device for supporting it free from contact with the surface of a table or other object on which it may be laid, so as to avoid contact with dust and dirt., and also to prevent the corners of such hat or cap from becoming worn by means of such cont-act.

The invention consists in the construction and application of an apparatus which Ihave called a hat-supporter, because it holds up the hat to which it is applied above and out of Contact with the supporting-surface (as, for instance, the top of a table or other place) on which such hat may be deposited when laid aside by the wearer.

The supporter has three or more feet, (four being shown in this example,) which move through holes made in the crown of the hat or cap, such feet being placed, respectively, at the ends oflegs, to which an upward or downwardmotion is given at pleasure by turning toward the right or left a disk or plate provided with eccentric slots that engage the shorter ends ot' said legs. The holes in the crown, through which the feet move, serve also to ventilate the hat or cap, for which purpose the buttons or widened extremities of the feet may be projected outward a little way, so as to clear the holes. When they are drawn inward to the full extent they close the holes entirely.

In this example I have shown the apparatus applied to a hat, to the inside of whose crown it is attached by any suitable cement or glue, or it may be riveted by rivets going through the shell or casing which sustains the movable portions thereof.

l` he letter A designates the crown ofthe hat, and B B, &e., the holes therein through which the feet'C of the apparatus are made to oper ate. The feet C are of sufficient length to raise the hat clear from contact with any surface on which it may be laid, and their extremities are widened or provided with buttons of greater diameter than the diameters of the holes, so that they cannot be drawn entirely through. The inner ends of the feet are connected to the ends of legs D, which radiate from a shell or casing, E, that sustains the apparatus.

The casin g is elevated at its central part so as to provide a cavity-on its inner side, which side comes next to the lining or crown, in which cavity is placed the slotted plate H, that operates the legs D, as hereinafter described. The outer rim or. portion of the said shell or easingE is hat, so as to present a suitable surface for eementing, riveting, or otherwise attaching it tothe crown. The shell creasing may be made in any suitable way, as by swaging or casting, and it may be per' forated with air-holes,`as at M, for hats which have ventilators at the center of their crowns. From the center 'of the elevated part of the shell or casing E rises a tube or socket, K, open at both ends7 into which is projected a post, L, that rises from the back of the plate H. (See Fig. 3.)

- The plate H is seen in under-side view in Fig. 2. It has four eccentric slots, I, which receive the vertical shorter ends J of the legs D, which legs are pivoted, at or near the shorter ends J, between standards N, that extend downward from the upper side of the cavity of the shell or easing E, These standards are best seen in Fig. 2, where they appear when looking down through the slots I. The shorter end J of the legs D are at right angles with the longer portions of such legs, and they project npward, respectively, through the slots I,

that when the plate His rotated the said ds J are moved toward or away from the uter of the plate, according to the direction its rotation, and consequently the legs D ll be made to turn on their pivots, and be ised or lowered, as the case may be. Vhen ey are lowered, their feet G will severally be 1de to move outward through the holes B the crown of the hat, as shown in red outle in Fig. 3. When they are raised, their feet are severally drawn inward, the broad ends said feet or buttons formed on their extremes coming against the edges of the holes B ld closing them. The buttons or ends of the et G are so shaped and are ot' such dimen- )ns in respect to the dimensions and shape said holes B, that when drawn inward they e nearly concealed from View, being also ackened or colored, so as to have the same lor of the hat. rEhe shell or easing E has )ts cut in the sides of its eleva-ted part to low the vibration of the legs. rlhe eceentrieity of the slots I of plate H is .ch as to produce the required movement of e legs, the length ot' the feet C and the ,centricity of the slots being proportioned to .ch other, so that the rotation ot' plate H rough a distance equal to the length of one saidslots will move the feet G in or out .eir whole length. The slotted plate H is secured in place in le shell or casing E by pushing the post L -)ward through the socket or tube K of the nell or casing, and securing it there by means i' a screw, G, which is screwed into the post. The top of the post projects alittle distance )ove the top ofthe socket or tube K, and the trt which projects has a square head, which 1s into a square hole formed at thecenter of le wrench F, which is a fiat plate whose sides re cut away to form rays for convenience in )erating the apparatus. Vhen the wrench is in place on theprojecting squared end of le post L, the screw is next inserted into the 3st-, and, being turned down, the head ofthe :rew serves not only to clamp and fasten the rench to the post, but also to draw the slotted late up against the inner part of the shell or isin g, as far as is necessary to make the Jorter ends J ofthe legs D enter the slots of tid plate. lf the wrench is now rotated in .ther direction the slotted plate Hwill be also itated, and the feet C will be moved in and ut through the holes B.

The same movements of the slotted plate, and consequently ofthe legs D and their feet, can be produced by equivalent mechanical devices, a-s, for instance, by means of a thumbscrew, which shall, by being screwed in and out through the top ot' the shell or casing, cause the inner ends of the legs D to be raised and lowered at pleasure.

It will be observed that the feet C are curved, the lines ot' curvature being drawn from the centers of motion of their legs D, so that the feet move through the holes B without binding, and so that only a small hole .is necessary for said feet. Said holes, however, area little larger in diameter than the diameters of the legs, so that when the buttons at their ends are not drawn in snugly to their places, small openings will be left beside each of the legs for the admission and emission ot' air, whereby ventilation can be established, in addition to any ventilation that may be provided for at the center of the crown or elsewhere.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a hat-,of the movable feet G, three or more in number, when so arranged and connected that they are projected beyond the crown, and with drawn simultaneously, substantially as described.

2. The feet O, in combination with the radial legs D, to whose ends they are attached, substantially as described.

3. The slotted plate H, with eccentric slots I, in combination with the legs D, which are raised and lowered by giving rotary motion to said plate, substantially as described.

4. rlhe wrench F, in combination with the slotted plate H, to the post L of which it is confined through the agency of the screw G,

substantially as above shown.

5., The shell or casing E, which covers and protects the slotted plate, in combination with said plate and with the legs D, substantially as set forth.

6. The apparatus, substantially as above set forth, in combination with a hat or cap, as above shown and described.

7. The enlargements on the ends ofthe feet G, substantially as above set forth.

. HARRISON HODGSON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. Nasr-I, Guo. F. SOUTHERN. 

